Date: Sun, 12 May 1996 07:45:09 -0400
From: Maggie Heineman
Subject: Marriage stuff, PA and US
Happy Mothers' Day,
PA info, US info, A well-written alert and sample letter
--------------
The Pennsylvania Freedom to Marry Coalition has two web pages.
Philadelphia - http://www.liberrynet.org/~pftmc/
Western PA - http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/scotts/ftp/wpaf2mc/
=======legislative info from the Philadelphia page-
Anti-marriage legislation was introduced in the PA House on May 8
House Bill 2604 Sponsor: Rep Allan Egolf
37 co-sponsors, none from Philadelphia:
Maitland, Flick, Hershey, Coy, Stern, D. W. Snyder, LLoyd,
Lucyk, Argall, True, Waugh, Fleagle, Lynch, Fargo, DiGirolamo,
Baker, Phillips, Sather, Schuler, Birmelin, Feese, Tigue, Olasz,
Armstrong, E. Z. Taylor, Leh, Hess, Clymer, Hutchinson, Brown,
Clark, Pitts, Rohrer, Micozzie, Stish, Saylor, Schroder, Hennessey
Referred to the Committee on Judiciary
Write or call your PA Representative today!
1. Amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of Pennsylvania
2. Consolidated Statutes, defining "marriage"; and adding
3. provisions relating to same sex marriage
4. The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5. hereby enacts as follows:
6. Section 1. Section 1102 of Title 23 of the Pennsylvania
7. Consolidated Statutes is amended by adding a definition to read:
8. (section) 1102. Definitions
9. The following words and phrases when used in this part shall
10. have the following meanings given to them in this section unless
11. the context clearly indicates otherwise:
12. ***
13. "Marriage." A civil contract by which one man and one woman
14. take each other for husband and wife.
15. ***
16. Section 2. Title 23 is amended by adding a section to read:
17. (section) 1704. A marriage between persons of the same sex
18. It is hereby declared to be the strong and longstanding
19. policy of this Commonwealth that marriage shall be
20. between one man and one woman. A marriage between persons of the
21. same sex, which was entered into in another state or foreign
22. jurisdiction, even if valid where entered into, shall be void in
23. this Commonwealth.
24. Section 3. This act shall take effect immediately
======= end Pennsylvania, begin U.S. ========
Anti-marriage legislation was introduced in the US House on May 7
HR 3396
Sponsors: Bob Barr (R-GA), Largent (R-OK), Sensenbrenner (R-WI),
Myrick (R-NC), Volkmer (D-MO), Skelton (D-MO), Byrant (R-TN),
and Emerson (R-MO). Write or call your US Representative today!
Anti-marriage legislation was introduced in the US Senate on May 7
S 1740
Sponsors: Nickles and Dole
Santorum, Rick (R)
120 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6324
Fax: (202) 224-4161
Specter, Arlen (R)
530 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4254
========================alert from PFLAG National ==========
**** ACTION ALERT *******PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY ***
Congressional Hearings on the "Defense of Marriage Act" are
scheduled for Wednesday, May 15.
The hearings will be held in the Constitution Subcommittee of the House
Judiciary Committee. The panel of witnesses has not yet been determined.
The bill, H.R. 3396, was just introduced to Congress Wednesday,
May 8, 1996 by Representative Bob Barr (R - GA) and Steve
Largent (R-OK). The Act would, for the first time, create a
federal definition of marriage. According to this federal
definition, marriage would only include heterosexual couples and
so the Federal government would not recognize legally married
same gender couples.
Currently, civil same-gender marriage is not permitted
anywhere in the United States. This Federal legislation,
like the more than 30 anti-marriage measures introduced at
the state level, is in anticipation of an upcoming Hawaii
court decision that could legalize same-gender marriage in that state.
That decision, however, will probably not be decided for two years.
Representative Barr's action follows a year in which the
extremist Right that has moved the issue of same-gender
marriage to the top of its anti-gay agenda.
Constitution Subcommittee members include:
Republicans
Charles Canady, Chair (FL) 202-225-1252
Henry Hyde (IL) 202-225-4561
Bob Inglis (SC) 202-225-6030
Michael Flanagan (IL) 202-225-4061
F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (WI) 202-225-5101
Martin Hoke (OH) 202-225-5871
Lamar Smith (TX) 202-225-4236
Bob Goodlatte (VA) 202-225-5431
Democrats
Barney Frank (MA) 202-225-5931
Patricia Schroeder (CO) 202-225-4431
Melvin Watt (NC) 202-225-1510
Jose Serrano (NY) 202-225-4361
John Conyers, Jr. (MI) 202-225-5161
ACTION:
1. Contact your Representative and demand that they vote against HR 3396.
U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Letter to a Representative:
The Honorable (full name)
United State House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Congressman or Congresswoman (last name)
2. Call PFLAG's national office at 202-638-4200 for a copy of our press
release to distribute locally. You can modify it for your community, or
refer calls to PFLAG's national office.
Talking points:
* Marriage is a basic human right. The decision of whom to
marry is a deeply personal one that should not be interfered
with the federal government.
* HR 3396 sends a message to the American public that it
is OK to discriminate against gay and lesbian people.
* HR 3396 is unnecessary and divisive. Gay and lesbian
people can not get married in any state in the country.
The bill is nothing more than an election year strategy to
scapegoat gay and lesbian Americans.
* Public discussion on same-gender marriage should continue
in every state without interference from the Federal government.
Instead, HR 3396 pits states against the Federal government.
Sample letter:
Dear Representative,
I am writing to urge you to strongly oppose H.R. 3396,
the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act," introduced by
Representatives Bob Barr(R-GA) and Steve Largent(R-OK).
This legislation is nothing more than a coordinated election
year strategy by religious political extremists to score
political points on the backs of gay men and lesbians.
Same sex marriage is not legal anywhere in the United States.
A court case in the state of Hawaii is currently looking
at the issue, but a final decision is not expected for about
2 years. This kind of premature legislation is nothing more
than an attempt to divide the country by beating
up on gay men and lesbians. Congress should be attending to
the business of the country, not attacking American citizens.
Marriage is a basic human right. The decision of whom to
marry is a deeply personal one that should not be interfered
with by the federal government. Despite the rhetoric of the
religious political extremists, one can honor the relationship
between a man and woman without attacking lesbian and gay
people or their relationships.
I again urge you to oppose this unnecessary and divisive
legislation. I look forward to hearing your views on this matter.
Sincerely,
=======reposted by-
Maggie Heineman -
PFLAG-ON-THE-WEB http://www.critpath.org/~maggie/pflag/
.........These are a few of my favorite lists...
Family- http://www.critpath.org/~maggie/pflag/talk.html
Marriage- http://nether.net/~rod/html/sub/marriage.html
Religion- http://www.libertynet.org/~iwg/
Schools- http://members.aol.com/schoolown/schools.htm
Transgender- http://www.critpath.org/~maggie/pflag/tg.html
Pennsylvania- http://www.libertynet.org/~exposepa
...Well, actually, these are the urls for the homepages of the lists.